Wednesday, December 10, 2008

TO ACHIVE A JOYFUL AND HEALTHY RETIREMENT – START PLANNING NOW

It becomes more apparent each day that inflation has crept back into our lives even though government statistics may not support this viewpoint. Rather, it's the real world cost of food, drugs, fuel, utilities and education that indicate the inflationary trend.

If you are planning to retire any time soon, make sure you understand and account for the reality of inflation. You may want to address this yourself or maybe you will hire a financial planner.

The combination of higher inflation plus flat stock and bond markets can devastate your standard of living. While it's true some investors will find a way to beat market indices, the average guy or gal will have a tough time.

So after years of hard work and dedication to your job, comes the time for your retirement. By this time everyday is a Sunday or holiday, and no more chaotic Mondays. Of course everybody expect a peaceful and restful retirement life but not all succeed in doing so.

It will be successful if you implement a bit of prior planning. The problem is that most people like to live for the moment and get swept away buying the latest gadgets and technological wonders.

There is so much to spend their money on that it is extremely difficult to put a little money aside for retirement. Suddenly the big six zero looms up and retirement is almost upon you and nothing has been planned.

If you are lucky enough to own a house then you do, at least have a life line. You can sell the house and buy something cheaper. You could go to live with the kids. You could even rent a mobile home to live in. If you do sell the home and free up your equity you can use some of this money to live on and then you can spread the rest around some decent investments to bring in some extra income.

Now coming to the reality, retirement is not only about financial planning, another more important priority actually to look upon is the health which has been neglected by most people.With advancing age, trying to remain healthy is not being easily achieved with the risk of developing various types of diseases or illness such as for example; diabetes, hypertension, coronary disease, hear attack, and many other old age related sickness.

Another critical sickness is Parkinson’s disease which also dreads most old age people. Go often for your medical check up for cholesterol LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol) and triglycerides.

Optimal numbers as follows; Total cholesterol 200 mg/dL or lower; LDL cholesterol 100 mg/dL or lower; HDL cholesterol 60 mg/dL or higher; Triglycerides 150 mg/dL or lower.Now do not neglect your blood sugar and pressure; A normal fasting blood sugar level is less than 100mg/dL, anything higher indicate that you may be heading for diabetes, blood pressure;

Normal blood pressure should exceed 140/90 mm/Hg, anything higher than 160/95 mm Hg indicate hypertension and treatment should be initiated, and those numbers in between need to b monitored daily.

Another awareness to check is the body mass index (BMI) the measurement of body fat based on height and weight to determine whether you are overweight, obese or within a healthy weight range because overweigh and obesity increase risks of various illness and sickness.

To easily calculate your BMI, one way is to consult a doctor another is you can visit www.nhlsupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm just key in your height and weight to obtain results, after which continue to explore the site for more relevant information on BMI subject.

To improve your health, you must be physically active with various form of exercise to keep fit, firm and to protect from getting illness or sickness.You can always chose the type of exercise like walking, slow jogging, swimming, gardening and doing work around the house, now be kind to your body, any strenuous exercise may be harmful.

Always start slowly then gradually increase your pace if you chose to jog or walk and on the safe side consult your doctor whom will be able to recommend types of exercise that suit your present health.

Apart from exercise, you must eat smart and good food, avoiding high cholesterol stuff especially saturated fats, such as whole milk dairy products, fatty meats and egg yolks.

Increase intake of vegetables, fruits, grain products and if you are a female eat more food that contains calcium such as dairy products (low fat), meat, beans and nuts to strengthen the bones. Also remember to limit your intake of salt, sugar and try to drink at least 7-8 glasses of water per day.

Find places to relax your body and mind, practice meditation, breathing exercise, listening to soft music or other ways of relaxation daily for 20 minutes to avoid stress which can cause anxiety and is harmful to health.

Make it a point to always be readily to learn something new, pick up a hobby, join community volunteer works for worthwhile activities to stay occupy which is to stimulate the brain as s form of exercise to delay memory loss or affected by Parkinson’s disease.

During retirement, you will have more time but just do not waste it, what is more important than “How old are you?” is “How are you old”.Plan for your new lifestyle, live your life in a healthy way, stay young and remember that you are retire from work but not from life.

Take all careful measurement to be healthy and stay happily ever after with your soul mate and regard old age as a gift (Age is a sacred trust)“Life is most delightful when it is on the downward slope” by Seneca